Mary J. Blige My Life

I was interested in this perfume for two reasons: I love gardenia, and I am a fan of the niche beauty care line from Carol's Daughter. As much as I love gardenia perfumes, I find many to be flawed in some way. I still wear them, and in many cases love them, but since the demise of Jungle Gardenia, a good gardenia is hard to find. This is no Jungle Gardenia, but this is a good gardenia, and a solid contender in the arena of contemporary gardenia fragrances, especially considering it's cost. The gardenia note is a green gardenia, not a fully ripe, and turning brown around the lips, gardenia. On me, it opens with gardenia prominent, and a peppery freesia that contributes to the green note. The pear is noticeable, but not intensive, and is a pear with a green characteristic. To me, it is less synthetic or chemical than the Elizabeth Taylor Gardenia. Also less potent: silage and projection is moderate, as is longevity. I am not sure you can get this kind of well-behaved gardenia without losing monster projection. This is an office and daytime-friendly gardenia. It is based on a white accord of tuberose, orange blossom and jasmine, with the addition of a soapy LOTV (not the lily). About an hour or two after application it is a little too soapy. To me, gardenia should smell dirty to smell authentic, although LOTV works well with this greenish gardenia. The lily comes on strong once the heart opens, but does not last as long as I would like. The heart is sweeter than the opening: the tuberose, jasmine, and orange blossom comprising the gardenia accord, joined by tuberose and jasmine. Along with apricot blossom, this could easily have become overwhelmingly sweet, but does not. Although more of a white floral than a gardenia perfume, the gardenia remains distinct throughout. It is never a sweet gardenia, always dry and green. The fruit note is very well balanced and not prominent. I get more of a peachy vibe from the apricot blossom, than I do pear. I sense more cashmere wood than praline on drydown, which on me is woody and musky, and never sweet. I turned the box and the bottle over, and both stated Made in Brooklyn. I take this to mean that Carol's Daughter didn't outsource their first foray into the celebrity fragrance market. The bottle is great: easy to hold and spray, deceptively small (read: fits in my already stuffed perfume drawers) and is an attractive shape. Overall, I like this, and feel that I will get a lot of use out it.

Have this and love it. Matter of fact, I'm on my second bottle of this. It's beautiful. Don't let the above poll fool you. It's a white floral so technically...the same CATEGORY as Michael Kors' original perfume...but it is by NO means a dupe. This is spearheaded with white floral notes. But there's something so..."buttery" about this perfume. So smooth. This is deff a unique one. I've never smelled anything like this before. I also strongly disagree with the claims of this smelling like an old lady. Absolutely NOT! Elizabeth Taylor's "White Diamonds," smells like an old lady perfume. This one smells very modern as a matter of fact. The Gardenia & Tuberose are very front & center here. I'm guessing that the sweet Praline note is what gives it the buttery, smooth feel that I sense. But whatever it is...this perfume is beautiful. Longevity - 4-5 hours Projection - About 3 feet. Overall Score - 8.5/10 I just found her second perfume, "My Life Blossom" on Ebay and I'll be purchasing that this week to see how I like that one. Stay tuned for my review on that one. But as for this one...to all you white floral lovers who don't like super sharp or bitter white florals...I highly recommend you try this one.

I don't understand why reviewers are calling it a granny scent?? If your grandmother is wearing MY LIFE then she is surely smelling GOOD! This fragrance is by far one of my top 5's! I receive so many compliments by passerby's that I should have wore a banner stating, "I am wearing MY LIFE by MJB!" To try to explain the scent is really hard but I will try. I hardly smell the pear but you get a fresh sweet smell of gardenia and freesia. ( it is almost like a sweet honey/praline scent with a splash of floral (jasmine and gardenia). It has great sillage and will last all day at work. The bottle's top is very heavy and the blown heart shaped glass is beautiful! I would most definitely purchase this fragrance again and again from HSN! Also, I received her roller ball with her signature lip gloss which has a minty taste, doesn't cake very moisturizing, and looks so good on caramel skin.

really wonderful floral scent , I love the fresh jasmine smell in it .the bottle is so lovely , and I am happy to know that during purchasing this fragrance I donated a one dollar to empower and support women campaign . excellent fragrance for summery day use . Update : I sprayed some of it in my wrist at 6:00 AM and now it is 12:00 PM the scent still exist close to my skin without reaching the sweet base yet, because I still smell the floral notes only , the sillage is moderated ( radiates within arm length) at the first two hours and then it becomes close to the skin. The beginning is fresh floral, for me it was a little bit edgy but you can still tolerate it, in contrast to the extremely edgy floral perfume of Rihanna, Reb'l Fleur. I love it !!

I love gardenia and have a large collection of contemporary and vintage fragrances that feature gardenia and tuberose. "My Life" is really quite good and stands up to some of the better gardenia fragrances. For me it starts off with a cool, fresh gardenia and then warms into tuberose and what could be called a jasmine grandiflora. The dry down is woody and full of chocolate and toffee. The bottle is substantial and even the larger size EDP fits my small hand. I enjoy this fragrance day or night, in winter more than the warmer seasons of the year.